Steam Release

DATELINE: GORDONSVILLE, VA

It's been well over a year now since I last posted an entry to this blog. That's mainly due to a lack of time to compose intelligent essays, and the emergence of Facebook as an outlet to keep my "fans" updated on my whereabouts and goings-on. Well, today I have some unexpected (and unwelcome) free time, and I have a rant that's too long for a Facebook post, so here I go.

Why is it that no good deed goes unpunished? And whatever happened to good karma? I'm taking steps to "help out" my current student, but they're all blowing up in my face, costing me money and keeping me away from home. Here's the scoop.

My truck's air conditioner had been inoperable for a couple of weeks when I picked up this student 3 weeks ago. Of course, the weather started getting quite warm then. Actually, it was warm for the few days I was running solo before picking him up, but I tolerated it by running with the windows down. (Full disclosure: the AC unit that runs to keep the sleeper berth cool when the truck's not running still worked, so we were still comfortable when sleeping at night. But that unit is not strong enough to cool the entire cab.) Anyway, my student found he could not tolerate the heat and road noise with the windows open. So I gave in and consented to stop at our Vandalia, OH terminal to get the thing fixed. (Get the AC fixed, NOT my student...although that wouldn't be a bad thing either.)

Now, we were on a 1200-mile load from somewhere out east (I forget where) to western Iowa and that route took us through Vandalia at about the mid-point of the run. I OK'd the stop with my Fleet Manager, and we dropped that load there while we got the truck tended to. Of course, we arrived there on a Saturday without a service appointment, so we had to wait 'til the shop there could work us into their schedule. That, of course, didn't happen 'til Monday.

To make a long story short, the shop figured out what the problem was relatively quickly, but had trouble getting the necessary parts. So we wound up with 5 days of idle time (no paying miles) and USA Truck assigned me another unit (truck). I had to catch a ride with another driver to our Chicago terminal to pick it up and haul a load back to Vandalia to pick my student back up, but at least we were rolling again.

NOW my student has determined that A) he can't sleep in a moving truck, and B) ha can't drive through the night without becoming dangerously fatigued. Well, now that we're in Phase 2 of his training--team operation--he pretty much HAS to be able to drive overnight. Or else I do. I have to be awake and on duty for our customer contacts (pick-ups and deliveries), and most of those are during the daytime. So if I have to be awake and on-duty then, I won't get any rest for the overnight drives. (Not to mention fitting all that within DOT hours-of-service regulations.)

So yesterday (my birthday, by the way), he told me that he was ready to quit because he just could not handle what was required of him. (And every other driver that goes through training, I might add.) That led to conversations with the Training Coordinator, who really didn't want him to quit, which resulted in us coming to a compromise. (Actually, it was more her forcing the compromise on us.) We'll get Dispatch to "slow us down" (read: be assigned fewer miles) so we can stop for a few hours each night so the "villain" can get some peaceful sleep. AND we'll let him drive some daytime hours (read: he drives in the day, I drive at night).

OK, so we started this new setup with yesterday's load. That was a run from Napoleon, OH to Gordonsville, VA. We picked it up yesterday morning, with my student driving as I was finishing up my required 10-hour break from my last shift. Around 10:30 a.m. I took over and headed toward VA. The load was originally scheduled for delivery at 10:00 p.m. that night, and we had a pre-planned next load out of West Point, VA at 2:00 a.m. this morning. We got the OK to hold off on that delivery 'til this morning because of the stop-for-rest thing, and I halted for the night in Mount Jackson, VA.

My student dutifully got up and rolling by 5:00 this morning and made it to the customer in Gordonsville at 7:00. This delivery was a drop-and-hook, for which we unhook the loaded trailer and leave it in their lot. We then (normally) find an empty trailer from some previous load, hook up to it, and proceed on our merry way. Today, however, the customer did not have any empty USA Truck trailers available, so we wound up having to wait for them to unload one of the several loaded ones they had in the lot. Naturally, that took over 6 hours, eating away at my student's 14-hour window in which he can drive today. (Once a driver goes on duty following a 10-hour-or-longer break, he has 14 hours in which he can drive up to 11 hours. Once he gets to that 14-hour mark, he can't drive 'til he takes another 10-hour break.)

Since the point of training is to get the student 175 hours of time behind the wheel, sitting still while the student's 14-hour clock is ticking means it'll take that much longer 'til the student completes his training requirements...AND the trainer can go back home. Aye, there's the rub.

So because of this student's inability to "suck it up", I'm stuck out here A) longer, and B) earning less. Hence my need to rant here a bit. Because of the extended period with this student, I may have to stay out on the road for about 7 weeks total since I last left home. I plan to take a week of vacation next month, coinciding with the Ann Arbor Art Fair. USA Truck's policy is for drivers to be on the road a minimum of 2 weeks each time out, so because of this student's extended training period, brought on by "his" delays, I won't be able to fit in a 2-week tour of duty if I go home immediately when he finishes up. I'll have to just stay out 'til that week I want off. (Of course, by then I'll have earned 7 days of hometime--1 day per week on the road--so I may just take that week as hometime and save the vacation week for later.)

OK, so there's my story. I hope I've explained everything clearly enough for you to understand my plight and get an insight into the wonderful world of a truck driver trainer. But at least I get paid to travel! (Right!) Thanks for looking in, and remember, as always, keep on truckin'.